


the best you can do

by Rachaelizame



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Family Feels, Gen, Rey Kenobi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-09-28 18:18:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17187998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rachaelizame/pseuds/Rachaelizame
Summary: Inspired by rain_sleet_snow’s “when you can’t do what you would (do what you can)”.Rey wasn’t alone the whole time she was on Jakku, just the later years.





	the best you can do

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rain_sleet_snow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rain_sleet_snow/gifts).
  * Inspired by [when you can't do what you would (do what you can)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16020581) by [rain_sleet_snow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rain_sleet_snow/pseuds/rain_sleet_snow). 



> Okay, so rain_sleet_snow wrote an amazing Rey Kenobi fic, which isn’t my idea of canon, but it makes for a fun au. Features Kyrie and Limia (her OCs) as Rey’s parents, Kyrie being Obi-Wan’s son. I was very inspired by this au, and wanted to fic it, so here it is!

Rey was pulling apart machinery when he appeared. The old man stood in front of her, scanning the empty room until his eyes landed on her and he let in a sharp breath.

Rey gave him a funny look and he smiled softly and spoke.

“Hello, sweet girl. I’ve found you.”

“Found me? Do you know my daddy? I can’t find him. Or my mama?” Rey pouted briefly. “Daddy and Mama should have come got me.”

“Yes. I know. I do know your parents. Not as well as I’d like, but yes, I know them. I’m your grandfather.”

“You’re my grampa?” Rey asked, confusion and youth slurring the word together. “I don’t know you.”

“Yes, I know. And that is largely my fault. I’m sorry that I wasn’t here earlier. But I’m here now.”

“Can you get me home?” The old man’s face did something weird at that, giving Rey the feeling of a broken ship part.

“No. I’m sorry. No one else here can see me. They wouldn’t know I’m here.”

“Why can’t they see you? What are you?”

“I’m a ghost. A ghost that only… certain people can see.”

“Then why are you here?”

“Because it's what I can do. I can’t get you back home, as I’d like to, but I can be here with you.”

“Okay, grampa. Can you see if there’s anything good over there? Unkar said I have to get some good stuff this week, or I don’t get fed.”

A burst of wind came over the hills suddenly, which was strange because it wasn’t a windy day. Rey flinched as it passed her, and her grandfather nodded slowly and disappeared.

-

He came again the next day, and they set up a good system. He could get through places she couldn’t and look for the good stuff, so she didn’t have to rip everything apart and not even firm anything worth something.

“Grampa? Where are mama and daddy?”

“They’re back home, sweet girl. They miss you very much. They’re coming back for you when they can.”

“They didn’t forget me?”

“No, darling. They love you so much.”

After that, Rey kept a close eye on the skies, looking for familiar ships. She always chased after them, in case this time, it was the one that would bring her home.

Unkar hit her very hard one day, after she’d chased one too many ships. He’d fallen over right after, like someone had pushed him away from her, but there was no one there. Every time he tried to get close to her again, it happened. Something wouldn’t let him hit her.

The next time Rey tried to chase a ship, her grandfather appeared. He pulled her close to him in a hug as she moved towards the ship, quietly whispering soothing words.

“It’s not them, this time. I’ll tell you when it is. I’ll get on the ships that come. Darling girl, I don’t want him to hurt you again.”

Rey cried that night, a long time, and her grandfather held her close and wiped her tears.

-

When Rey was older, she asked why he never went back home to her parents to just tell them where she was.

“When you were young, I didn’t know where you were exactly. A desert planet, obviously, but which one? It took so long to find you in the first place, I was afraid if I left I never would find you again. I’m still afraid of that. And now, Unkar keeps threatening to move you. If I lose track of you, I may never find you again. It’s hard to keep track of physical places now, being incorporeal.”

“But if you tell mom and dad where I am, they can find me.” Rey protested.

“Not if he moves you off planet, I can’t. Rey,” for he had learned that was the name Unkar called her, and the name she was most comfortable with, and figured Rey was not a bad nickname for Maré anyway, “I would so very much love to reunite you with your parents. Of course I would. But if I can’t, if you get moved, I won’t even be able to be with you, and you will be alone. I can’t risk that, not yet. Maybe when you’re older.”

Rey considered gearing up for a good long fight about it, but the look on her grandfather’s face was that same brokenness from the first day she met him, and she couldn’t bear to keep it there. So she asked him to pass her the portion, and she made breakfast, and she put on the pilot’s helmet, which always made him laugh, and launch into stories about when he had grown up and his childhood friends, who apparently had worn something similar at one point. Theirs didn’t have a visor though, and when Rey asked what the point was then, if they couldn’t see out of it, Grandfather smiled mysteriously and said she’d understand someday. He always seemed a little sad then too, so she didn’t ask about it, and just listened to his stories.

-

When Rey was thirteen, Grandfather made a decision.

“I’m going to try and find your parents. It’s been long enough. I don’t quite remember where they are, physical places are so hard to remember now, but I can feel them, out there. It shouldn’t take too long to locate them.”

Rey didn’t know why now, or what had prompted this decision, but she was excited regardless. She could barely remember her parent anymore, and she wanted to find them again.

“Rey, I need you to stay where you are. If you move around too much, I won’t be able to find you. Stay close to town the next few days.”

Rey nodded determinedly. It would mean a little less to go on, income-wise, but if her parents were coming back that didn’t matter anyway.

Grandfather gave her one last hug, and pressed a kiss to her forehead, and then disappeared.

Two hours later, Unkar announced they were moving. A local gang wasn’t too pleased with his recent business dealings. They were headed for the other side of the planet. Rey fought it, biting and kicking him. This time, he was able to hit back, no one stopping him. Rey didn’t care. If she moved grandfather couldn’t find her anymore. She fought her fiercest to stay.

It didn’t matter.

-

When Obi-Wan found Limia and Kyrie, he didn’t approach immediately. He wouldn’t want to get their hopes up pointlessly. He watched for a moment as they explored the hillside of the planet they stood on, smiling and laughing. Obi-Wan smiled as well. He was glad they had this moment.

Now that he’d found them, it wouldn’t be hard to find them again. He went back to Jakku, for just a moment, to ensure that Rey was still there, only to see her tiny home empty and deserted. He felt for her in the Force, wondering where on planet she was scavenging today.

The panic didn’t hit at first. He was used to his new reality, and Rey would listen to him. Unkar hadn’t threatened to move her in weeks, so he felt they were safe on that front. But when his senses couldn’t find her within a few miles, the panic did hit. Where was Rey?

He waited for hours for her to return, finally collapsing to the ground as the sun rose the next morning, tears in his eyes. He’d failed them. He’d failed them all, again.

-

He searched endlessly, but Jakku was large, and desolate, and he couldn’t search everywhere, no matter how hard he tried. Unkar had before mentioned other planets he had hideouts on, and Obi-Wan searched them as well, hoping for a sight of her. He never got one.

Years later, he felt something unusual in the Force. Anakin’s old lightsaber was calling out to someone. Obi-Wan followed it, curious, hopeful that this person could help the quickly descending Galaxy. It wasn’t his main focus, but he very much did not want the Galaxy to fall into Darkness again.

He startled immediately when he saw her. Rey. He called out to her, but it had been so long since he’d taken on corporeal form that that was all he could do, at least for the moment. He could only get his voice across, not his form.

He hung around long enough to see her on the Starkiller Base, and determinedly headed for the signatures of Kyrie and Limia. Leia was in charge of the Resistance, they could get to Rey. They could finally be reunited.

“Kyrie!” He called immediately when he arrived, pleased to see he’d remembered how to form a semi-physical body. “She’s on Starkiller. Go find Leia.”

Kyrie startled at the sight of him, but not too badly, and nodded immediately. He hesitated before heading out the door.

“... thank you.”

-

Rey had good friends, it seemed. Or one good friend, at least. Obi-Wan was sad to see him injured, and quite surprised to see Anakin by the boy’s bedside. He hadn’t seen his brother in a little while, working hard on his quest to find Rey, while Anakin tried to redeem Be- Kylo.

“Anakin?” He said.

“Ben did this. Kylo Ren killed his father today, and attacked Rey and Finn, and destroyed the Hosnian system. I- I don’t think he’s coming back.” The last sentence was a whisper, Anakin still unwilling to admit how far Kylo had fallen. Obi-Wan stood beside him, and placed an arm on his shoulder.

“I’m so sorry, my friend.” Anakin shook his head, and turned his gaze away.

“Not your fault. Besides, I think you have something more important to see right now.” Obi-Wan turned a confused look on him.

“Kyrie just arrived on base. Limia is with him.”

“Thank you for telling me. I need to get over there.” Obi-Wan smiled at Anakin once more, and hurried off.

He stood in the background, simply watching for a long time, as Rey noticed her parents and flung herself into their arms. He smiled fondly as they reunited, until Rey opened her eyes again, and caught sight of him.

“Grandfather!” She shouted, to the clear surprise of Kyrie and Limia, and she hurried to his side as well.

“Hello sweet girl. I’m so sorry I lost you.”

“You told me it might happen. I understood.” Obi-Wan worried she may be lying a bit to spare his feelings, but he ignored that, and leaned in to hug her. The Galaxy was falling apart but with his family around him, he knew they could handle it.


End file.
